The Jessi: This was another one that I somehow missed as a child but I'm pretty sure I would have loved it based on the description on the back. Except for the whole Mimi having a stroke part. I just loved when the girls held playgroups, it made me think of the movie. Plus Claudia's sweater on the front? You know it's going to be good.
The Mal: The story opens with Claudia and her sister arguing one morning. That day the BSC has a meeting and Kristy decides they should extend their play group until at least August. They make plans for it and decide to hold it in Stacey's backyard. While they go around recruiting regular clients to come, they agree to let Mallory Pike work with them as an unpaid helper. That night, Claudia, Janine, and Mimi play a trivia game that results in Claudia and Janine fighting and Mimi going to bed early because she's very tired. A little while later while Claudia and Janine are arguing again, they hear a thump from Mimi's room. They run in to find her in a heap on the floor, unconscious after having a stroke. They call an ambulance and she is rushed to the hospital. The next morning the BSC holds its first day of their play group, besides some trouble with Jenny P. everything goes smoothly. Claudia also has a babysitting job that afternoon with the Newtons. She takes Jamie over to her house to show him that Mimi is gone. While there, she gets in another fight with Janine and calls her mean and says she doesn't care about Mimi. When Claudia goes to visit Mimi for the first time in the hospital, she gets freaked out and ends up running out of the room. The second time she does better and even comes up with a way for Mimi to communicate by blinking her eyes. Slowly Mimi starts to improve but Claudia begins feeling more and more guilty and thinks that she caused Mimi to have a stroke. She decides to quit the play group so she can spend more time with Mimi and help her with her therapy. Mimi progresses steadily and is allowed to come home. Claudia spends each morning quizzing her on things around the house in the hopes of improving her memory and word skills. One day, Claudia has a babysitting job scheduled so Mary Anne comes over to take care of Mimi. After going through flashcards, Mimi gets frustrated and yells at Mary Anne. While Claudia is at Lucy Newton's christening she realizes that she loves Janine and that Janine must love her too but just doesn't know how to show it. Claudia and Janine have a heart to heart and learn that they're both jealous of each other. Claudia lets Janine spend more time with Mimi and agrees to be nicer to Janine. Claudia apologizes to Mimi for being mean and giving her a stroke. Mimi forgives her and tells her that the stroke wasn't her fault.
The Stacey: Number of pages:145, Claudia's age: 13 (thus making this the first book with any of the members being 13), How much Charlie makes each week driving Kristy to meetings: $3
The Dawn: The main drama in this book is too sad to make fun of. I feel horrible for Claud, I know what it's like to watch one of your grandparents suffer through all kinds of health concerns. A less serious drama going on is the one with Jenny Prezzioso. For some reason Karen tells Jenny that Andrew is a monster. Jenny believes Karen and does everything that Andrew tells her to do. The babysitters go along with this and even have Andrew tell Jenny things to do. I thought it was kind of funny and probably something that I would have come up with as a child but at least it solves their problem with Jenny.
The Claudia: "I finished dressing in my favorite art class outfit-- black jeans, a giant bright blue T-shirt, and a snake bracelet that I wore above my elbow."
The Kristy: Although this book was pretty sad, it did have a fairly happy ending and Ann did a good job of keeping things light by adding the Jenny and Andrew subplot. I give it a 3.9 out of 5.
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